It was a democratic and civil country until the right-wing Israeli version of MAGA took over. Our right-wing takeover is only slightly behind them. I haven't yet figured out if our West Bank will be Greenland or Canada.
No, it never was. It had an important faction that believed in democracy, but that faction also held other beliefs that are fundamentally incompatible with it. The Haganah worked with Irgun and Lehi, because deep down the liberal Zionists knew they needed the hard right